


Unsettled

by Musical_Fandom



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Manipulation, Minor Injuries, One Shot, Partial Mind Control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:09:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29547042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musical_Fandom/pseuds/Musical_Fandom
Summary: Entering Maruki's palace was disorienting. The distortion was heavier than anything Akira had ever felt, even with his non-existent navigator skills, he could feel it. It was as if all of Mementos was concentrated into one place.AU where the distortion in Maruki's palace has an effect on Akira.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro & Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Unsettled

**Author's Note:**

> In order to get to the scene I wrote this entire thing around, Maruki has taken a more actively villainous role so he's definately out of character.

Entering Maruki's palace was disorienting. The distortion was heavier than anything Akira had ever felt, even with his non-existent navigator skills, he could _feel_ it. It was as if all of Mementos was concentrated into one place. Akira vaguely remembered when he met Morgana, when the cat had explained that their outfits in the metaverse protected them from distortion. Akira wondered how much worse everything would be if he didn't have the protection. He looked at Akechi who didn't seem affected at all despite his more fine tuned senses. 

"Joker," His voice cut through the growing fog in his mind. He felt like a beacon, something to guide Akira out of the dangers of this palace. "We need to hurry."

"Right," He nodded. There were larger issues that needed their attention. "Sumire."

Akira and Akechi made a poor attempt at stealth before giving up entirely. Their outfits, normally suited to sneaking around in dark spaces, stood out when there was a complete absence of darkness. Hiding in the shadows only served to make them more noticeable. As Akira ripped off the mask of a shadow, he wondered if this wasn't the desired outcome for Akechi. He seemed to be itching for a fight, his senses were sharp as ever even while Akira's seem to become more dull the longer he spent in this horrible place. 

The shadow Akira unmasked melted into a puddle of black sludge only to reform as a Nebiros flanked by two bears that Akira felt like he should recognize. "They're weak," Akechi noted. He didn't take his eyes off them as he continued his analysis. "The middle one is weak to bless, be sure to exploit that."

Akira nodded and grabbed his mask. He mentally sifted through his personas until he found the right one. "Metatron!" He yelled. The metallic angel appeared behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Akechi staring. "Makougaon!" Three columns of light enveloped the shadows in front of them. The Nebiros fell to the ground while the bears remained standing.

Akira passed the baton to Akechi. He felt the familiar swell of energy as their hands touched. It was almost electric.

"Loki!" Akira watched as the striped persona rose behind Akechi. He balanced precariously on his sword with a malicious grin. "Megidolaon!"

A large blast of energy consumed the three enemies in front of them. Akira shielded his eyes from the resulting light while Akechi didn't so much as flinch. When the attack dissipated, all three enemies were still standing. Heavily injured, but standing. One more attack could likely wipe all three out.

The Nebiros suddenly stood up but stopped halfway. It looked about ready to die on the spot. It held out the marionette in its hand which began to shake. Akira recognized the attack when it was too late. Pain spread through his body, the worst of which was in his head. A familiar pink haze settled over anything only to be dispelled, ironically, by one of the techniques he had learned from Maruki. The pain in his head left but his mind felt like mush. He hardly registered when one of the bears came up to him until its teeth had already sunk into his arm. The pain didn't last beyond the initial attack, it never did. Akira just needed to make a note to heal the injury after the fight, or maybe have Akechi do it.

The third bear took its turn. It held out its arms as the skulls inside its split stomach rattled. The same attack as before hit Akira. The pink haze returned but this time he wasn't as lucky. This time, there was nothing to stop the problem before it even started.

It was Akira's turn, he turned to Akechi with a blank look. A voice in his mind told him to _kill_ so he obeyed. He lunged at Akechi, dagger in hand and tried his hardest to plunge it into his throat. Akechi fought back as hard as he could, using his claws and sharp mask to his advantage before he finally got Akira off. As Akira laid on the ground, Akechi summoned Loki and swiftly ended the battle with another megidolaon. As soon as the enemies were dead, Akira felt the pink haze leave his mind. He stayed on the ground for a moment to catch his breath.

"Is it all going to be like this?" He asked, almost surprising himself with his coherence.

"Enemies focused on brainwashing the opponent." Akechi said thoughtfully. "It doesn't reflect well on Maruki, does it?" He offered Akira his hand which Akira just stared at. It took him a moment to process what he meant by it.

"It doesn't." Akira answered as he accepted Akechi's help. Through his mask, Akira could see the strange look he was getting from Akechi. He thought he recognized it from the casino. It was the same one he wore when he had been trying to outsmart Sae and use her own game against her. "What's that look for?"

Akechi shook his head. "It's nothing, let's just find a safe room. You look awful." Akira couldn't argue. He felt just as bad as he looked. The pain from his injuries was gone but not the sluggishness that came from recovering from mental ailments. That on top of whatever the palace was doing to his head, he was surprised he could still string a sentence together.

When they did eventually find a safe room, it felt like stepping outside after being in a stuffy room. The building pressure in his head somewhat lessened once they got away from the heavy distortion. It became easier to think.

"Do you have any healing skills?" Akechi suddenly asked. "Or would you rather we use items?"

"We don't know what Maruki's going to throw at us."

Akechi nodded and grabbed some bandages. He grabbed Akira's wrist and pulled his arm forward. It was then that Akira noticed that his coat was torn to hell. He hadn't realized exactly how much damage the enemy had done until now. He was lucky he still had an arm.

As if reading his thoughts, Akechi looked up at him. "The enemies here are powerful." He said. "We need to be more careful in the future if it's just us."

Akira nodded in agreement before he hissed at a sudden stinging sensation. He watched as Akechi poured something on the gaping bite marks on his arm. "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning and dressing the wound." Akechi didn't even look up. "There's no point in wasting the powerful items when this is an option."

"Warn me next time." Akira caught a small smirk under Akechi's mask.

Once both him and Akechi were at full health, Akira hesitated at the safe room door. Even in there, he could feel the clawing distortion that threatened to muddle his thoughts again. It was more than a little concerning how affected he was by it. It gave Akira a bad feeling, there had to be a reason the palace was dulling his instincts.

"Are you going or not?" Akechi asked impatiently. He crossed his arms and glared at Akira, seemingly anxious to continue fighting. He craved blood, a fact that probably should have been more worrying than Akira found it. As long as they were on the same side, it would be fine.

Akira left the safe room with Akechi, immediately he found his mind stuck in molasses. Thinking became more difficult the closer they got to the auditorium. At some point, Akira realized that Akechi had taken the lead. He followed Akechi's movements closely, not wanting to fall behind. It felt almost _right_ to follow him. A quiet reassuring presence in his mind told him it was natural to want a leader. Akira found himself listening to it as he followed Akechi through the bright halls.

Akira and Akechi waited for an opening as a shadow walked in front of the door they needed. Akira looked to Akechi for instruction. He nodded so Akira launched himself at the shadow and tore off its mask. It melted into a black puddle before reforming as two lion-goat things. Akira had never seen them before and his hazy state wasn't exactly helping him to come up with a fitting name.

"Are you just going to stare at them all day?" Akechi glared at him. Akira knew he would have already attacked the enemies if it weren't for the strange rules that governed metaverse battle. "Joker!" Akira kicked into action. He launched himself at the enemies in front of him, dagger in hand and stabbed the one to the left. He took out a sizable chunk of health but it wasn't enough.

"Loki!" Akechi called the second Akira was back at his side. "Eigaon!" A wave of dark energy consumed the shadow Akira had attacked. The shadow dissapeared into black smoke. Akechi attacked the remaining one with another eigaon leaving it on the ground. He ran up to it with his gun drawn while Akira quickly followed. Akechi turned to Akira, gun still trained on one of the shadow's heads. "What do you want to do with it?"

Akira blinked. He stared at Akechi for a moment as he tried to find the words. Akechi was looking to him for an order, to be the _leader_. It shouldn't have felt so... _wrong_. 

"Joker, are you listening?" He snapped. "What. Do. We. Do."

Akira still didn't answer, he couldn't. He could hardly think, let alone lead. A look that Akira couldn't decipher crossed Akechi's face before he fell back. Akira followed. Once they were in their original positions, Akechi unloaded all the bullets in his gun on the shadow until it was just a cloud of black smoke.

As soon as the battle ended, Akechi turned to Akira, he looked absolutely furious. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"S-sorry." Akira shook his head. "Let's just keep going." He pushed himself forward towards the door. He reached out for it before he felt Akechi grab his arm.

"What happened?"

"I just froze." He lied.

"Well, if you 'freeze' again, the shadows won’t be the only think you'll have to worry about." Akechi glared from under his mask. He let go of Akira's arm and stepped back to let him open the door.

Maruki was waiting for them in the auditorium, just as promised. As Akira walked forward, the fog in his mind overtook everything. The reassuring voice grew louder. It helped him to realize why he wasn having such a hard time keeping his mind clear. He didn't _want_ to think anymore. It was so painful, just _letting go_ would be so much easier. In hindsight, he figured that he should have noticed sooner.

Akira suddenly realized he was on the ground. He didn't know how long he'd been in the auditorium, only that some amount of time must have passed even though it didn't feel like it. Akechi was yelling something at Maruki but Akira wasn't paying attention to it. The voice that echoed in Akira's head responded to Akechi before he turned his attention to Akira. He kneeled down next to him and grabbed his arm. "Snap out of it Joker!" He yelled. For some reason, it seemed to cut through the haze, even if it was only for a moment.

Suddenly, Akechi was ripped away. Akira watched as tentacles shot out from the ground and grabbed him. Akechi swung his sword at them but he couldn't get a solid hit in. They suspended him in the air, far from Akira.

"Kurusu-kun." The reassuring voice was back. Akira looked at Maruki who began to walk towards him. His smile was familiar and comforting. "Are you happy."

Happy, the word resonated with him in a strange way. It felt _right_ , just as letting Akechi take the lead before had. He slowly nodded. Maruki's smile widened.

"Then, won't you take my deal?" He reached out his hand to Akira. He tried to think but found he still didn't want to. He just wanted to be _happy_ for once. To not have to worry about anything. No more end of the world, no more losing friends, no more problems. "I promise, you won't have to worry about anything anymore."

Akira stared at Maruki for a moment. He _wanted_ to accept his deal. _Giving in_ would be-

"Akira!" Akechi's voice brought Akira back to some sort of awareness. He looked at Akechi who was still struggling to break free. "Damnit, fight back!"

Fight. Akira held his head. The fog threatened to return. He couldn't let it. He needed to **fight**. This was all **wrong**.

"Kurusu-kun, ignore him." Maruki said. Akira closed his eyes and covered his ears. Everything was too overwhelming, he couldn't deal with it all at once.

He fought against the encroaching fog. He fought to clear his mind. He felt a hand roughly grab his shoulder. Akira slowly opened his eyes to find Akechi at his side. Maruki was further away and in clear pain. He looked past Akechi at the mess of cut tentacles that laid unmoving on the ground.

" _Joker,_ how are you feeling?"

Akira slowly stood up on his own. "Better." He said with confidence. His mind still wasn't entirely clear but he had enough clarity to know that he couldn't accept Maruki's deal. He couldn't let someone else think for him.

"I see that you two have made up your minds." Maruki began. He slowly recovered from whatever pain he was in. "That's a shame..." He paused, something dangerous lurking in his eyes. "But I can't give up all my work for just two people."

More tentacles rose from the floor. Akira's mind screamed danger. He was tired physically and emotionally and Akechi didn't seem to be doing much better. They couldn't fight like this. "We have to fall back." He ordered. Akechi reluctantly nodded in agreement. Akira grabbed a Goho-M then Akechi. He activated it, ending up at the palace entrance with Akechi. Together, they escaped the palace.

In the real world, Akira collapsed. He was tired, too tired to deal with everything that had happened. "So," He started, looking up at a thoroughly unimpressed Akechi. "What now?"

"We get some rest and reconvene in the morning to talk strategy."

Akira nodded. "Sounds good." Akechi offered Akira his hand which Akira immediately took. He climbed to his feet still feeling thoroughly exhausted. "Thank you."

"I wasn't going to walk away with-"

"I meant the palace."

"Well, I couldn't just let Maruki gain another pawn." Akechi looked away. "And I need you on my side if we're going to restore reality."

Akira nodded as a small smile pulled at his lips. "We make a good team."

"We'd make a better one if neither of us had to hold back for once."

"Tomorrow... What time?"

"Noon." Akechi looked around until he spotted something. Hidden behind a pile on construction materials was his briefcase. He opened it and took out a pen and paper. Akira tried to get closer to see what else was inside but Akechi quickly closed it. He wrote something on the paper before handing it to Akira. "I'm not coming to LeBlanc with Isshiki walking around. We'll meet at my apartment tomorrow."

Akira nodded and held the paper close to his chest. On the way home, he read it over and over again. Akechi's apartment, this was the first time any of his friends had invited him over. Him specifically, not like when he tagged along with Ann when they were trying to get dirt on Madarame or like when he broke into Sojiro's house. Akechi actually wanted him there. He made sure to keep the paper safe.

When Akira finally got to LeBlanc, he collapsed on his attic bed. He was far too tired to change into his pajamas so only the shoes and coat came off, both of which were thrown haphazardly onto the floor. 

As Akira got comfortable, he thought about the events at the palace. Things would have been **_bad_** if not for Akechi. Even if he pretended not to care, Akira knew he must have. He ended up going to sleep with the thought on his mind. That night, he dreamed of Akechi and how he had helped him, a small smile resting on his face as he slept.

**Author's Note:**

> I may or may not expand on this in the future


End file.
